Africa (1000-1980 CE)

Question 1

Conical tower and circular wall IDs

Answer 1

Shona people
1000-1400
Coursed granite blocks

Question 1

Conical tower and circular wall

Answer 1

Trade center
Walls not meant for protection (not much threat)
Built to hold a ton of people
Ornamental stonework
Great enclosures, narrow passageways
Living structures

Question 2

Great Mosque of Djenné

Answer 2

Center of cultural and religious life
Community event to join together and repair it
Hypostyle hall
Qibla wall facing Mecca
Built on a platform to prevenet flooding
Cone-shaped bricks (fit into each other)
Labyrinth-esque
Wash feet before praying
Near a market

Question 3

Great Mosque of Djenné IDs

Answer 3

Mali
1200 CE
Adobe

Question 4

Wall plaque

Answer 4

Bronze bracelets (result of slave trade with Portugal)
Shows lineage of the kings but the Europeans messed everything up
“Lost wax method” (clay molds with wax, brass melts wax)
Hierarchy of scale
Heads are huge (smartness)
Administrators fanning the Oba (king)
Oba (wearing special coral from the realm of the sea, where the economic prosperity is from)
Adorned palace wall

Question 5

Wall plaque IDs

Answer 5

Edo
16th century
Cast brass

Question 6

Sika dwa kofi

Answer 6

Sacred symbol of strength
Hidden away to protect it from being stolen
Created an entire war to keep it away from British
Royal and divine throne
Descended from the sky
Bells are meant to warn the king of impending danger
Symbolic of a chief’s leadership
Replicas have been produced
Ceremonially blackened with animal blood at their funeral as a symbol of their power for generations

Question 7

Sika dwa kofi IDs

Answer 7

Ashanti people
1700 CE
Gold over wood

Question 8

Ndop

Answer 8

Shows lineage of the kings, all seated in the same position with objects of power
Ensure that the current king has access to the power of the previous kings
Closed eyes, flat headdress, knife in left hand, drum in right hand, jewelry
Incised hair
Idealized
Knife, ebol (drum that is different for every sculpture), and headdress symbolize kingship
Commissioned by king

Question 9

Ndop IDs

Answer 9

Kuba people
1760-1780 CE
Wood

Question 10

Power figure

Answer 10

Stomach compartment holds special magical substances (apotropaic)
Physical represenation of all the solved arguments and stuff in the village
Memorized by a priest
Chief hats (authority)
Bilongo (metal stick that’s stabbed into the guy that activates inner spirit, gives permission to the spirit to punish the offending party))
Maintains social order
Spirit hunter (hunts wrong-doers)
Spirit will vacate figure if priest doesn’t pay attention

Question 11

Power figure IDs

Answer 11

Kongo people
Late 19th century
Wood and metal

Question 12

Mblo

Answer 12

Idealized true double of the person it represents
Commissioned by a man (with permission from the woman so her spirit isn’t floating around)
Stylized and idealized
Used for entertainment
Harmonious and balanced
Represents an important female relative
Spirit double
Retires once the woman dies
Heavy eyelids and downcast eyes (reflects a woman’s respectful presence in the world)
Used in a dance (dancers would study the gestures and movements of the woman)
Combines values (female youth and wisdom)

Question 13

Mblo IDs

Answer 13

Baule people
Late 19th to early 20th century
Wood and pigment

Question 14

Female mask

Answer 14

Used in male initiation ceremonies to teach young men how to treat women
Represents the founding mother of the tribe
When danced with the founding father, they bring prosperity and fertility
The man wearing the mask marries her
Large forehead, round closed eyes, slender nose, small mouth, concave chin, red cheeks
Represents ideal woman (beautiful, young, and ready for marriage)
Tear drops (represent the sadness of being separated from her sons at the ceremony)
Pwo (found mother of DRC)

Question 15

Female mask IDs

Answer 15

Chokwe people
Late 19th to early 20th century
Wood, fiber, pigment, and metal

Question 16

Bundu mask

Answer 16

Fellowship of women who prepare young girls for adulthood, marriage, and the roles of a woman
Ideal woman
Idealized
Palm oil (shiny)
Sowo (water spirit)
Neck folds (wealth), small nose, brows (success, happiness, and self-confidence), eyes (reveal true feelings, sexual)

Question 17

Bundu mask IDs

Answer 17

Mende people
19th to 20th century
Wood, cloth, and fiber

Question 18

Ikenga

Answer 18

Commissioned before a man’s wedding as a shrine to him and his success
He has to offer gifts or he’ll get bad luck
Either naturalistic, abstract, or both
Mediates between the spiritual and physical realms to protect him
Size is based on success of the man
Right hand (agents of strength, carry a knife or something)
Left hand (carries a symbol of achievement, like a severed head)
Buried with the man after death

Question 19

Ikenga IDs

Answer 19

Igbo people
19th to 20th century
Wood

Question 20

Lukasa

Answer 20

Beads tell information
Need religious training in order to read it
Looks like a turtle shell
Shows different stories/aspect of the culture

Question 21

Lukasa IDs

Answer 21

Luba people
19th to 20th century
Wood, beads, and metal

Question 22

Aka elephant mask

Answer 22

Represents power and strengh
Worn at ceremonies/rituals (such as funerals and annual festivals)
The chief of the tribe has powers that can turn him into an animal
He’s responsible for protecting his people, dispensing supreme justice, and ensuring fertility of the crops and fields
Mens societies (closed to public, linked to palace and King)

Question 23

Aka elephant mask IDs

Answer 23

Bamileke people
19th to 20th century
Wood, rafa, cloth, and beads

Question 24

Reliquary figure

Answer 24

Idealized male (big heads and muscley bodies)
Symmetrical (represents cultural belief in the balance of opposites)
Guardian of the container that holds parts of a dead person
Used in initiation ceremonies
Talks to children
Sculptures are dancing puppets during funerals
Brought with during the mass emigration south
Used by the group of elders as communication devices to the ancestors
Rubbed with palm oil to keep them pure

Question 25

Reliquary Figure (Nlo bieri) IDs

Answer 25

Fang people
19th to 20th century
Wood

Question 26

Veranda post

Answer 26

Embodies the style (interrelationship of figures, exaggerated proportions, open fingers, extravagant)
King is focal point (but portrayal suggests dependence on others)
Queen posed with her hands on the throne (she places the crown on his head during his coronation, protects the kings interest during his reign

Question 27

Veranda post IDs

Answer 27

Olowe of Ise
Yoruba people
1910-1914 CE
Wood and pigment